With two meets to go in the regular season, the Utah gymnastics team is prepping for its most important stretch heading into the Pac-12 Championships and NCAA Regionals.
Two wins against Michigan and Georgia will do wonders for the Red Rocks, but they will have to face the first of the two meets without top contenders Kailah Delaney and Samantha Partyka once again. Both are ruled out of important event lineups due to injuries.
Though missing the two starting gymnasts created something of a dilemma for the Utah coaching staff, they weren’t too concerned because the team’s replacements, including Baely Rowe, who earned her first start as an all-arounder this season, and didn’t disappoint.
“Honestly, [being an all-arounder] was great,” Rowe said. “I just went out there and treated it like it was another meet or practice. I didn’t want to have too much expectations for myself to hit [the routines] — I just wanted to go out there and be expected to hit.”
Rowe performed well on all her events, but her excellent floor routine was the highlight of her day. With the junior out for most of the preseason, she was edged out of the floor lineup due to issues with her Achilles tendon.
Co-head coach Megan Marsden knew how frustrating it was for Rowe to be left out but thought it was necessary in order to better her routine after the setback.
“[Rowe] has been getting herself ready [all season],” Marsden said. “It’s been hard for her to be patient for a chance to get in the floor lineup. She had to take about five weeks off in the preseason because she had some Achilles tendon soreness, and we were very cautious, especially during that time of the year. It put her behind on floor.”
Fnally having the chance to start on her favorite event, Rowe seized the opportunity, which Marsden was very proud of.
“The lineup became determined, and she had to wait for her opportunity,” said Marsden. “With resting [Delaney and Partyka], it’s happened. It didn’t surprise me a bit that she went in there and did as well as she did.”
Updates on Injuries
Since returning to training for the week, Marsden and fellow co-head coach Tom Farden are continuing to prep without Delaney and Partyka. With both experiencing knee problems, the goal is to make sure they are 100 percent fit by the time postseason rolls around.
Marsden is hoping for Delaney to be back in action in two weeks against Georgia.
“It’s coming along,” Marsden said. “[Farden] and I aren’t asking a lot of questions yet. We’ve kind of determined that [Delaney] was going to stay out of the lineup completely last weekend. She’s still not going to do a lot of pounding this week, but we’re hoping to have her do a vault at Michigan, and by Senior Night [vs. Georgia] we’re hoping to get her more back in her events.”
With Partyka, the team is hoping she will be ready to reclaim her all-around status by the time Pac-12 Championships roll around, but for now she will focus her efforts on bars and balance beam.
“We’ve been told that [Partyka] will be out of the floor and vault again for two more meets, so we have her available for postseason,” Marsden said. “If we’re at the end of the year without the doctor’s advice, [Partyka and Delaney] will be going.”
The long road to Michigan
With two away meets conquered, Utah’s last regular season away meet will be the toughest yet, as the team heads to Ann Arbor to face Michigan to battle for top spots in the national rankings.
With the two teams ranked fifth and sixth respectively, it will be a meet that will come down to the wire for the Red Rocks, who are hoping to take back their former No. 5 ranking, currently held by the Wolverines.
This will also be Utah’s longest road trip of the season — the Red Rocks will log more than 3,000 miles round-trip. It will be a challenge for Utah’s young team, but the Red Rocks are more than ready to get the job done against their Big 10 competition.
@chad_marquez